Soft loan scheme for onion storage sheds

NASHIK, FEB 14: Considering the lack of storage facilities for onions, the National Horticulture Board (NHB) and the Nashik District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) have jointly evolved a scheme to extend soft loans to farmers for the construction of storage sheds.

Accordingly, the NHB and the NDCCB will finance 300 onion chawls (sheds) with capacity of 25 tonnes each, and 200 chawls of 50 tonnes. Loan amount for the former type would be up to Rs 75,000 and for the latter Rs 1.56 lakh.The farmer will have to raise ten per cent of the amount required. NHB will extend a loan of 40 pc and the NDCCB, of 50 pc. The loans would be repayable in five years with an interest of 8.5 per cent. Any farmer having three acres of land under onion cultivation is eligible for the scheme.

The NDCCB chairman Prashant Hirey said that instead of using traditional material like bamboo, the new sheds would have iron pipes and a standardised design. At present only traders and a few big farmers have aerated sheds to storeonions, especially the summer crop, which can be stored up to six months.